The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to check the Indian Aircraft with weak finances or an aging fleet. The checking shall occur when the airline parks the aircraft at night across airports. DGCA will dispatch teams to check each carrier thoroughly for correcting complaints.
The DGCA has received complaints about broken hand rests, meal tables, window panes, torn seats, and other interior damage in the aircraft. The damaged cabins of the aircraft also have the potential to hurt people as the luggage can fall over their heads during turbulence. According to a senior regulatory official, until all the wear-and-tear in the aircraft gets fixed, the plane shall remain grounded.
The authority shall allow any airplane to fly again only when its deficiencies rectify. The checks under this decision are different from the regular engineering inspections. The activity started casually after a few passengers tweeted images of shabby and broken interiors of aircraft.
SpiceJet Becomes First Target
DGCA recently grounded SpiceJet Boeing 737 in Bengaluru and Air India Airbus A320 in Kolkata. A senior official assured to make this exercise a regular ritual with parked planes. “If we find anything suspicious that can hinder safety, the plane will remain grounded until it is corrected,” he said.
The process has begun with SpiceJet. On Wednesday, Ajay Singh, SpiceJet’s promoter, met Arun Kumar, a top DGCA official, and Manish Chopra, head of safety of DGCA. After investigating around 70 SpiceJet carriers, the DGCA aims to focus on other airlines.
People in the know have given various opinions about SpiceJet’s safety protocols. They say that the low-budget airline can defer all other expenses but cannot compromise on safety. Other airlines to go under the DGCA scanner are airlines with weak finances or old airplanes.
In DGCA’s history, there have been many investigations, especially for financial audits when the airline company is under severe financial stress. Until 2019. no airline had perfectly balanced sheets, with the sole exception of IndiGo.
Also Read: Heavy Turbulence Strikes SpiceJet Flight During Descent
